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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · bark · wave · snap · mine · coach · wax · rash

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rash — hasty
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. snap — to click
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. wave — of the sea

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com